Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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Terrence W. Deacon on Reference - Dictionary of Arguments
I 43 Reference/Animal/Deacon: it is not the complexity of language, not grammar, not syntax, not articulation, nor is it the large vocabulary that prevents animals from developing a language, but simply the problem of finding out how a combination of words refers to things. >Reference, >Animals, >Animal language, >Vocabulary, >Words, >Syntax, >Grammar. Why is that so difficult? In evolution we see that there is a different kind of reference than the human symbolic reference. a) Symbolic reference: the human reference with words and pointing to objects b) Non-symbolic reference/Deacon: can be found in any non-human communication. (And also in human communication. Problem: one cannot explain the extraordinary language learning ability of children if one does not accept symbolic reference as given. But it is not given. I 63 Reference/Deacon: is partly in the head. It is formed by an interpretation process in the course of a kind of response. Reference to the word (sign, sound, gesture) but it is not intrinsic to it. I 65 Interpretant: (that which enables you to find out the reference) is a mediator. >Interpretation/Deacon. Differences in the form of the reference (symbolic, non-symbolic) are differences in the form of the interpretant. Interpretants can be, for example, experiences in dealing with objects._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Dea I T. W. Deacon The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of language and the Brain New York 1998 Dea II Terrence W. Deacon Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter New York 2013 |
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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-26